Three Episodes Into Top Gear Series 21, And I'm Yet To Be Impressed

We're almost halfway through series 21 of Top Gear, so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on what we've seen so far. On the whole I can't help but think this series is yet to hit, erm, top gear (sorry!) so I thought I'd take a look at the good and bad moments we've had.

The highs

Clarkson's P1 feature in episode two was simply mesmerising. To see Jezza wrestling McLaren's latest hypercar around a very wet Spa Francorchamps is definitely the high point of the series so far. Seeing the Alfa 4C in action was also pretty enjoyable, especially after hearing nothing but hype about the car for years. Last night's Zenvo ST1 review was a welcome addition to the episode, particularly seeing the £800,000 supercar erupt into flames by the end...

The lows

Bad points? That would be pretty much all of the first episode. The second-hand hot hatch feature got off to a reasonable start, but was way too drawn out. To have it in three parts with no other features in the show apart from a snoozefest of an interview with Hugh Bonneville made it - if you ask me - one of the worst Top Gear episodes of recent memory.

The small car challenge in last night's episode also had its points of irritation. While it was intriguing to see Chernobyl and the abandoned town of Pripyat on screen, the whole 'oh dear, we're going to get radiation poisoning' thing got old quickly, especially with the knowledge that you can actually go inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone quite safely with a guide.

Conclusion

We've had flashes of brilliance in series 21, but on the whole it's left me a little underwhelmed. There are still four episodes to go, so I'm holding out hope that TG's 21st outing goes out on a high. With the Mercedes G63 6x6, Caterham 620R and Alfa Romeo Disco Volante due to appear this week, episode four looks set to get proceedings back on the right track.